Attempts to isolate this “internal secretion” began as early as 1907 but were not successful until the 1920s when insulin was first used to treat diabetes in a human patient. By 1893, Gustave Édouard Laguesse hypothesized that the islets of Langerhans produced “internal secretions” that Jean de Meyer named “insulin” in 1909. Twenty years would elapse between Langerhan’s initial discovery and the connection between the pancreas (and by default, islets) and diabetes was clearly established by Oskar Minkowski and Josef von Mering in 1889. At the time of the discovery, the function of these small clusters of cells was unknown, and Langerhans did not speculate about it. This announcement would also set in motion the groundwork for successfully treating diabetes mellitus. In early 1869, with his mention of “small cells of almost perfect homogeneous content, and of perfect polygonal form … lying together in twos or in small groups,” Paul Langerhans quietly announced to the medical community the discovery of what would later become known as the “islets of Langerhans”. ![]() This review thus provides a strong foundation for successful procurement and purification of high-quality mouse islets for research purposes. A detailed protocol is provided that describes a common method our laboratory uses to obtain viable and functional mouse islets for in vitro study. In addition, this paper reviews techniques for assessing islet viability and function such as visual assessment, glucose-stimulated insulin secretion and intracellular calcium measurements. We discuss key elements of mouse islet isolation including choosing collagenase, the digestion process, purification of islets using a density gradient, and islet culture conditions. ![]() The purpose of this review is to provide a history of the development of islet isolation procedures and to serve as a practical guide to rodent islet research for newcomers to islet biology. Choosing and administering the digestive enzyme, separation of the islets from acinar tissue, and culture of islets are all things that must be considered. The effective and efficient isolation of these small islands of endocrine cells from the sea of exocrine tissue that is the rest of the pancreas is not necessarily simple or quick. Since insulin is released by the islets of Langerhans, obtaining viable and functional islets is critical for research and transplantation. Insufficient insulin secretion is a key component of both type 1 and type 2 diabetes.
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